I’m a reporter on Forbes’ wealth team, where I cover titans of industry from a variety of backgrounds. From lords of finance and casino magnates to proprietors of the fast-food chicken sandwich and the no-whip, non-fat, venti caramel machiatto, I’m keeping tabs on these movers and shakers and what they do with their fortunes. I’m a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and I’ve worked at an assortment of news outlets, including the Associated Press, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. Email thoughts, tips and witty banter to amorrell@forbes.com or follow me @awmorrell. You can now send me sensitive documents anonymously and securely at Safesource.forbes.com

Firsthand Account Of Deadly Explosion in East Harlem

Just minutes after the blast, two buildings in East Harlem on Park Avenue are engulfed in flames. (Photo: Alex Morrell / Forbes)

Shortly before 9:30 a.m. Wednesday an explosion rocked the East Harlem block between 116th street and 117th street on Park Avenue, adjacent to the Metro-North Railroad tracks.

The explosion could be felt blocks away, spraying debris and shattering the windows of buildings in the near vicinity. Just moments after, people in the neighborhood began emptying into the streets to survey the damage, some only to retreat backward with faces stricken with horror and eyes welling with tears: the Absolute Piano store at 1644 Park Avenue, a church next door to its south and what used to be four stories of apartments above them had disintegrated into a pile of rubble now engulfed in flames.

Some people climbed on top of vehicles covered in debris and frantically tried to free others prior to emergency personnel arriving. On the opposite side of Park Avenue, others gingerly walked past the sidewalk full of glass and looked on as a large plume of smoke gathered over the site of the blast.

Aisha Watts, a mother who had just taken her three children to school, lives in the apartment building next door to the piano shop where the blast appeared to originate from. She was in her bathroom when she felt the explosion.

“I came out and the walls started coming down … I ran to try to open the door but it was locked,” said Watts, tears streaking down her face. “I was so scared I didn’t know what to do. I said to myself ‘I’m not going to die here.’”

A neighbor came and kicked her door open, freeing her from the apartment.

“I didn’t know what else to do but just run for my life. I ran for my life because I didn’t know if the building was going to collapse,” said Watts, who exited to the street and says she saw bodies lying on the ground amid the debris.

Firefighters work to quell flames following an explosion authorities believe may have been caused by a gas leak.

On her way down the building stairs, she ran into neighbor Lisa Connaughton, who had been in bed watching TV when her walls shook and windows shattered.

“It looked like a war zone,” she said. “My sister was locked in the room because the door wouldn’t open. She was screaming, ‘Don’t leave me, don’t leave me,’ and I kicked the door open and got her out,” she said. “I grabbed my dog and we got out the house.”

Authorities believe a gas leak caused the explosion. Con EdisonEdison reported it had dispatched two crews to the building prior to the blast.

Report of a gas odor at 1652 Park came at 9:13 from a resident. 2 #ConEdison crews were dispatched at 9:15 and arrived just after explosion.

At least two people were killed and many more injured, according to the New York Times.

Metro-North service between is suspended between Grand Central Terminal & Yankees E. 153rd St. Station. (Update: Service has been restored.)

On 118th street below the Metro North, next to the Urban Garden Center, Watts and Connaughton consoled and hugged neighbors while ensuring everyone was accounted for. But the obvious question for them is what would they do now?

“Where we going to go? We have no walls, no windows, there’s debris in my house,” said Watts.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.